64 THE USE BOOK. 



OCCUPANCY UNDER SPECIAL USE PERMIT NOT RESIDENCE. 



The Secretary of the Interior, by letter of January 12, 1910, ruled that the 

 provision of section 1 of the act of June 11, 1906, which allows settlers credit 

 for residence on lands covered by their entries, has reference to settlement 

 initiated prior to the date of the act only, and that residence under permit 

 issued by the Forest Service prior to the opening of the lands to settlement in 

 the manner prescribed by the act is not occupancy of lands within the meaning 

 of the homestead law and will not be credited as a part of the residential period 

 required to secure patent. 



APPLICATIONS FORWARDED TO DISTRICT FORESTER. 



Applications for the examination and listing of agricultural land under the 

 Forest homestead act should be addressed to and filed with the district forester 

 (see location of district headquarters, p. 16), and, when received by forest 

 rangers or forest supervisors, will be immediately referred to the district 

 forester. Forest supervisors and district rangers will furnish application 

 blanks, Form 253, to prospective applicants upon request. 



APPLICANT TO ACCOMPANY EXAMINER. 



Whenever possible it is best for the applicant to see tl^e examiner and discuss 

 with him any facts which tend to establish the value of the land for forest or 

 for agricultural purposes, and accompany him during the survey and exami- 

 nation. Since final action can be taken only by the Secretary of Agriculture, 

 the examiner will not give the applicant any information regarding his recom- 

 mendations. When the application covers unsurveyed land, and the description 

 is somewhat indefinite, it is particularly desirable to have the applicant present 

 when the survey and examination are made, in order that the examiner may be 

 certain that he is examining the land for which the applicant intended to apply. 

 When the applicant is present at the time of examination, and learns, upon the 

 survey being made, that he has not described in his application the land for 

 which he intended to apply, he may make an amended application, which must 

 be addressed to and filed with the district forester, and a copy may be at once 

 given to the examiner, who will then, without waiting for further instructions, 

 examine and report upon the lands covered by the amended application. 



SURVEY PLAT AND NOTICES ON UNSURVEYED LAND. 



The law provides that any eutryman desiring to obtain patent to any lands 

 described by metes and bounds, entered by him under the provisions of this 

 act, may, within three years of the date of making entry, file with the re- 

 quired proof of residence and cultivation a plat and field notes of the lauds 

 entered, made under the direction of the United States surveyor general, show- 

 ing the boundaries of such lands, which shall be marked by monuments on the 

 ground. A copy of the plat, together with a notice of the time and place of 

 offering proof, must be posted in a conspicuous place on the land itself during 

 the period prescribed by the law for the publication of the entryman's notice 

 of intention to offer proof, and another copy posted in the local land office 

 for a like period. Proof showing compliance with the provisions of the act 

 of June 6, 1912 (37 Stat, 123), may be submitted after the expiration of three 

 years from the date of establishing permanent residence. 



SURVEY WITHOUT EXPENSE TO ENTRYMAN. 



Under a cooperative plan effected between the Department of the Interior 

 and the Department of Agriculture, the original listing survey may be made by 

 a Forest officer designated by the surveyor general. Surveys made under this 

 agreement, when approved, will be accepted as the final survey for the issuance 

 of patent. Designated Forest officers may also make surveys for patent at the 

 time when proof is to be offered. Such surveys are made without charge to the 

 applicant. Application for survey should be made by letter- to the supervisor 

 of the Forest in which the homestead is located or to the district forester of 

 the district. 



